(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements of an inverted-design microscope wherein a condenser lens is arranged above a stage and an objective is arranged below the stage so that an object placed on the stage may be observed from below the stage.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Today, in the study of biocells in the medical, biological and genetic engineering fields, a microscope has come to be used to remove a nucleus from a cell, to transplant the structure within a cell, to inject a slight amount of an enzyme or medicine into a cell or to measure the electric resistance of a cellular substance. The size of such object is several microns to scores of microns. Therefore, such manual operation is called a micro-manipulation or micro-operation and is considered to be very effective to understanding various sides of the life phenomenon. Thus the microscope has come to be necessary not only as a mere observing instrument but also as an operating instrument.
However, with the conventional microscope as seen as a microscope for the micro-operation, it has taken much time even only to replace the accessory device in the shift merely from a phase difference microscopy to a differential interference microscopy and it has required much toil to set such accessory device. Further, in injecting a slight amount into a cell, not only the micro-injecting device itself but also many of such additional devices as a phase difference device for viewing transparent cells and a stereomicroscope for fixing the position of the needle point of the injecting device are required to be set. Therefore, there have been problems that a larger space on the desk and more time and toil are required.
Further, it is attempted to systematize the inverted-design microscope to correspond to various objects to be studied. All of such system accessory settings before the observation and replacements during the observation as the warmth keeping box setting, micro-manipulator setting, large culture vessel replacement, stage replacement and revolver replacement relate to the stage and are manufold. However, in the structure of the conventional microscope of this kind, there have been problems that the condenser holder or the like arranged adjacently above the stage interferes with such system accessory settings and replacements as are mentioned above and makes such works so complicated as to be impossible in some case.
Therefore, in order to solve the above mentioned problems, for example, in an inverted-design microscope mentioned in Japanese Patent Publication No. 37848/1982, a pillar for supporting an illuminating system including a light source and condenser lens is so formed as to bend rearward (outward of the microscope body) as its base portion. However, in this case, the effect of removing the obstacle is not sufficient. Also, at the time of setting the manipulator, the sample on the stage will not be well illuminated and therefore a new complicacy will occur. Further, in the structure, there has been a problem that it is difficult to secure the durability and precision of the hinge part of the pillar. Further, in the structure of a known universal inverted-design microscope, only the condenser holder part is removed upward. In this case, the same as in the above, the removing effect is not sufficient and there has been a problem that, when the stage is replaced or the warmth keeping box is set, the obstacle will remain and the condenser holder removed upward will intercept the illuminating light and a new complicacy will accompany the replacement and setting.